Lebanese superstar diva Fairouz reimagines 'Imagine'

Lebanese superstar diva Fairouz reimagines 'Imagine' to tackle war and refugee crisis
2 min read

The New Arab

18 July, 2017
John Lennon’s hit song 'Imagine' has been covered by an iconic Lebanese singer, Fairouz, who uses the track to discuss the region's current affairs.
The icon's career spans more than half a century [Getty]
Iconic Lebanese singer Fairouz posted a sample video of her singing an Arabic cover of John Lennon’s hit Imagine on her Facebook page. 

The song, dubbed Yemken [Maybe] is the second single off her upcoming album Bebalee, produced by her daughter, Reema Rahbany.

In it, the now 81-year-old discusses the current state of affairs, and tackles issues such as war, the refugee crisis and division in the region.

The 60-second clip, which was shared on the singers’ official Facebook page, was played more than 700,000 times and received nearly 12,000 shares.

The much-anticipated new album will be released on September 22, and puts to an end the icon’s musical drought which began some seven years ago.

Over the span of her musical career – which has surpassed more than half a century – Fairouz released more than 800 songs and was also seen across theatre, cinema, television and mini operas.

Below are the English translated lyrics to Yemken

Where do we run to
From all that is happening
We cannot..
enough humiliation, killing, fear, displacement

No authority, no seat of power
No hatred nor aversion
No religion or money
No war to pound the earth

What is preventing us from uniting
What we divided

Chorus
Maybe I’m dreaming
A dream we all desire
This dream alone unites us
To live in peace

We don’t want wars
We are killed for no reason

The thought of tomorrow is scary
Why and for what do you kill us
If the sky is there to cover us all

Chorus
Maybe I’m dreaming
A dream we all desire
This dream alone unites us
To live in peace

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